Penza, 15 June 2015. PenzaNews. The Penza region is still experiencing the disparity expressed in the lack of new people coming to the specialties in demand and a large surplus of graduates looking for more popular professions, the acting regional Minister of Education Alexander Voronkov announced during his report on the briefing session of the regional government on Monday, June 15.

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Commenting on the target figures for several last years, he explained that the real economy, such as energy, machinery and metal processing industries, have a growing demand for middle-level specialists.

“We had requests for 547 professionals in 2012, and for 800 already in 2015. That’s growth at over 250 professionals,” the Education Ministry head clarified.

At the same time, the food industry experiences a decrease in demand for professionals, Alexander Voronkov said.

“The statistics of control figures is based on requests from the employers, the analyses of the Labor Ministry and the contracts signed between the educational institutions and the companies,” he explained.

The minister also added that the percentage of school students who leave after the 9th class to enroll into community colleges to become workers and middle-level professionals increased from 40% to 47% of all graduates.

However, according to him, many of them choose the professions that have no government-sponsored enrollment programs, such as barbers or economists.